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156 The Trees <strong>of</strong> Great Britain and Ireland<br />
those <strong>of</strong> Pyrus intermedia, except that <strong>the</strong> lobes are triangular pointed, and not<br />
rounded as in that species, <strong>the</strong> sinuses never being acute at <strong>the</strong>ir bases.<br />
Var. semilobata (Bechstein). 1 Leaves oval or elliptic oval, acute at <strong>the</strong> apex,<br />
narrowed at <strong>the</strong> base, lobes sharply cuspidate.<br />
IDENTIFICATION<br />
In summer <strong>the</strong> leaves are distinguishable from those <strong>of</strong> Pyms intermedia<br />
by <strong>the</strong> characters <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> lobes and sinuses ; while broad-leaved forms differ from<br />
Pyrus torminalis in being tomentose beneath, <strong>the</strong> lobes never being so long as in<br />
that species. The tomentum wears <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> under surface <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> leaf towards <strong>the</strong><br />
end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> season, and is never so dense or so persistent as in intermedia. On<br />
Plate 44 figures are given <strong>of</strong> leaves from wild <strong>trees</strong> occurring at Symond's Yat<br />
(Fig. 9) and Minehead (Fig. 11), and from a cultivated tree at Kew (Fig. 12).<br />
In winter a tree cultivated at Kew showed <strong>the</strong> following characters, represented in<br />
Plate 45-<br />
Twigs: long shoots, shining, round, glabrous, except for a little pubescence near<br />
<strong>the</strong> tip ; lenticels numerous as oval prominent warts ; leaf-scars set somewhat obliquely<br />
on prominent, <strong>of</strong>ten greenish cushions ; crescentic with three bundle dots, <strong>of</strong> which<br />
<strong>the</strong> central one is <strong>the</strong> largest. Terminal bud oval, much larger than <strong>the</strong> side buds,<br />
which come <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> twigs at a very acute angle, with <strong>the</strong>ir apices bent inwards. All<br />
<strong>the</strong> buds are viscid, pubescent at <strong>the</strong> tip, and composed <strong>of</strong> oval scales, which are<br />
keeled on <strong>the</strong> back, ciliate in margin, and short-pointed at <strong>the</strong> tip. Short shoots<br />
ringed, slightly pubescent, ending in a terminal bud. In <strong>the</strong> specimens examined <strong>the</strong><br />
leaf-scar at <strong>the</strong> base <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> terminal bud had acute lateral lobes not observed in o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
species <strong>of</strong> Pyrus ; but <strong>the</strong>se are probably not always present.<br />
DISTRIBUTION<br />
The tree was first discovered in <strong>the</strong> forest <strong>of</strong> Fontainebleau, 2 and was<br />
described by Valliant 3 as " Cratsegus folio subrotundo, serrato, et laciniato."<br />
Duhamel du Monceau gave a figure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> leaf in his classic work. 4 The<br />
distribution on <strong>the</strong> Continent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> type, and <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> forms allied to it, has been<br />
given above.<br />
In England a small tree, <strong>of</strong> somewhat rare occurrence, grows wild in woods<br />
1 Pyrus semilobata, Bechstein, loc. cit. 1 52 and 317, t. 6.<br />
2 I visited Fontainebleau in 1905 on purpose to see this tree at home, and found only small <strong>trees</strong> <strong>of</strong> it in full flower<br />
on 14th May. I was informed by M. Reuss, Inspector <strong>of</strong> Forests at Fontainebleau, that <strong>the</strong> tree grows scattered only in <strong>the</strong><br />
part which is called Montenflainme and Mont Merle, where <strong>the</strong> sand is covered by <strong>the</strong> calcareous strata <strong>of</strong> Beaune, so that<br />
<strong>the</strong> tree is evidently peculiar to calcareous formations. Formerly <strong>the</strong> <strong>trees</strong> were cut with <strong>the</strong> underwood, but are now reserved<br />
on account <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir rarity, as well as <strong>the</strong> whitebeam and P. torminalis, which M. Reuss considers to be indigenous at Fontaine<br />
bleau, and <strong>the</strong>refore admits <strong>the</strong> possibility <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir hybridising. The largest tree known to him is on Mont Merle, at <strong>the</strong><br />
corner <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> roads d'Anvers et de 1'Echo in <strong>the</strong> i6th serie, and is 40 centimetres in diameter, or about 4 feet in girth at 5 feet<br />
from <strong>the</strong> ground. It is known to <strong>the</strong> peasants at Fontaineblcau as bagnenaudier or elorsier, but is generally termed by French<br />
botanists alisier de Fontaineblcau.—(H. J. E.)<br />
3 Botanicon Parisiense, ed. 3, p. 63 (1727). 4 Traitt des Arbres, i. 194, t. So, fig. 2 (1755).<br />
Pyrus '57<br />
in Cornwall, South Devon, and Gloucestershire, 1 which is very near to, if not<br />
absolutely identical with, <strong>the</strong> Fontainebleau tree, as some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> specimens have<br />
leaves which resemble ra<strong>the</strong>r those <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> varieties rotundifolia and semilobata.<br />
The South Devon tree produces fertile seed, 2 which has been planted, and <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong>fspring differs in no respect from <strong>the</strong> wild <strong>trees</strong>. In English <strong>trees</strong> <strong>the</strong> flowers<br />
are reported to have a disagreeable odour, 3 and <strong>the</strong> fruit ripens in <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong><br />
October or November. When fully grown, but still hard, it is olivaceous brown<br />
in colour, with numerous scattered small brown or grey dots; but when quite<br />
mature it becomes reddish. At Minehead in Somerset, <strong>the</strong> Nightingale Valley<br />
and Leigh Woods near Bristol, and at Castle Dinas Bran, Denbigh, <strong>the</strong> variety<br />
decipiens occurs. 4 Mr. E. S. Marshall observed a remarkably fine specimen with<br />
good fruit on <strong>the</strong> Conan river in East Ross-shire; but as no o<strong>the</strong>r specimen was seen<br />
this tree is probably not wild in that locality. The tree in Earl Bathurst's woods<br />
near Cirencester has given rise to some difference <strong>of</strong> opinion. It was identified at<br />
Kew as Pyriis intermedia ; but in <strong>the</strong> specimens which I have seen <strong>the</strong> leaves have<br />
<strong>the</strong> triangular lobing and tomentum <strong>of</strong> Pyrus latifolia, and I have no doubt that it is<br />
this species. 5 Its foliage is very variable, some leaves being broad, with rounded<br />
bases like <strong>the</strong> type, whilst o<strong>the</strong>rs have narrowed bases, and approximate in outline to<br />
<strong>the</strong> decipiens variety.<br />
REMARKABLE TREES<br />
Pyrus latifolia is seldom planted except in botanical gardens, as at Kew, Edin<br />
burgh, and Glasnevin. There are several fine <strong>trees</strong> at Edinburgh, one <strong>of</strong> which was<br />
figured in <strong>the</strong> Gardeners Chronicle* for 1882, when it was 45 feet high by 5 feet 3<br />
inches in girth. Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Balfour had <strong>the</strong> tree measured again in January 1904,<br />
when it was 45 feet high by 6 feet 6 inches in girth. A year or two before it was<br />
considerably pruned on <strong>the</strong> top branches, and this probably accounts for it not being<br />
higher in 1904 than it was in 1882. Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Balfour kindly sent me specimens <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Edinburgh <strong>trees</strong>, which, though <strong>the</strong>y differ slightly, are all referable to Pyrus<br />
latifolia. H e informed me that while <strong>the</strong> birds eat <strong>the</strong> fruit <strong>of</strong>f one tree as soon as it<br />
is ripe, in ano<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> fruit remains on <strong>the</strong> tree untouched. The variability <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
fruit in this species is remarkable, and points undoubtedly to hybrid origin.<br />
A tree exists at Oakleigh House, 7 near Keynsham in Somerset, which was<br />
planted many years ago. (A. H.)<br />
1 " Occurs at Bicknor, Coldwell, and Symond's Yat, which form a single range <strong>of</strong> wooded limestone rock in West<br />
Gloucestershire, about f mile in length." Rev. A. Ley, Bot. Exchg. Club Report, 1 893, p. 415. "French Hales" is <strong>the</strong><br />
name given to this species in Devon, according to Britten and Holland, Diet. Eng. Plant Names, p. 194 (1886). They state<br />
that <strong>the</strong> fruits are sold in Barnstaple market. These authors call <strong>the</strong> tree Pyrus scandica, as, at <strong>the</strong> time <strong>the</strong>y were writing,<br />
its identity with <strong>the</strong> Fontainebleau tree was not established.<br />
2 Briggs,/0«ir. Bot. 1 887, p. 209, and 1888, p. 236.<br />
3 Briggs, Flora <strong>of</strong> Plymouth, 1 44 (1880); and Boswell, Bot. Exchg. Club Report, 1 872-74, p. 20.<br />
4 Cf. N. E. Brown, loc. cit. 1 65. Mr. J. White reports a tree 30 feet high in Leigh Wood (Bot. Exchg. Club Report,<br />
1902, p. 45).<br />
6 Mr. Hickel, Inspecteur des eaux et forets, who knows <strong>the</strong> Fontainebleau tree well, and to whom I sent specimens, is<br />
<strong>of</strong> my opinion.<br />
6 Vol. xviii. 749. * Jour. Bot. 1 899, p. 488.